Humans!
by One Fujoshi Otaku Among Many
Summary: How Tanya Mickelvich became Tara Tatiana. Excerpt:"How could a human, and a puny one at that, be any help to us?" Before he could say anything else, he was flying across the clearing into his brother. "That's how."
1. Food for thought

Disclaimer: I don't own CATS, except for Tara and all of the humans. If there is any resemblance to real people, that is a freaky coinkydink.

* Forward * This is set in a world where Jellicles are known to the human world, but are not the most liked. There are a few peoples who like them, but they are few and far between. Most Jellicles refrain from contact with humans, but for the absolutely needed. They try to keep their home a secret from everyone.

Alonzo easily jumped form roof to roof. It was how the Jellicles, a tribe of cat-humans, preferred to travel around the city. They only used it to find food, which was what Alonzo had been doing. As he leapt across an alley, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He stopped and doubled back to look in the window. He saw a young human female whose hands and feet were tied, and she had a gag over her mouth. He knew the signs of kidnapping when he saw them. Well, she may be a human, but that didn't mean that he could leave her. He tapped lightly on the glass to get her attention. She looked up and her eyes widened. He opened up the window and slipped in. He went over to her and used a claw to cut the gag from her mouth. She blinked and mouthed 'thank you' at him. This confused him, but he didn't think about it. He cut her other bonds and studied her as she rubbed her wrists.

"Can you get yourself out?" He whispered. She shook her head no. He sighed and gestured for her to follow him. He guided her down to the ground and out of the building. Once she was safely away from the building, he used his claws to pull himself up the side of the nearest building. He thought about the young human woman as he made his way to the yard. He eventually came to the conclusion that she had been so desperate for help that she would accept it from anyone, even a Jellicle. He would have to mention this to Munkustrap, But he didn't need to think of it past that.

* Two Days Later *

Rum Tum Tugger was patrolling the boundaries of the Jellicle territory with his brother Mistoffelees. The tall, Main Coon cat looked nothing like his smaller, tuxedo patterned brother, but Tugger didn't have his brothers magic either. Instead, he had psychic powers, his strongest ones being telepathy, empathy and telekinesis. He kept his powers secret from the tribe, mostly because they weren't needed.

Misto stopped suddenly, grabbing his brother's arm with a small hiss. Tugger looked to see a human female threading her way through the junk piles. The two toms moved closer and Tugger shouted at her to identify herself. She jumped and looked all around, finally spotting them at the top of a pile. She began to run and Tugger and Misto followed. They saw her run into a clearing that they knew was a dead end, but when they got there, she was no where to be found. While trying to find her scent, Misto caught a different, much nicer scent. He looked and found a bunch of bags. They held Chinese food, more than enough to feed the whole tribe. He exchanged a glance with Tugger and tested the food with his powers. He stared at the food in wonderment.

"It's clean. We can actually go to sleep with full stomachs, all of us. And there will be enough for tomorrow. Why on Earth would a human do this for us. And how did she know where we were? And how many we were?"

"I don't know, little brother. But I think we had better get this food back to the others and see what they think about all of this.

PS: Just wanted to say, these are all my own opinions. If they in any way, shape, form, taste, function, or smell like anyone else's, NOT MY FAULT!!!!!


	2. Meeting Tanya

The tribe greeted the food that the two toms brought with joy, confusion, and wariness. Only once the adults were completely sure that the food was clean did they let the kittens have some. The fighters of the tribe gathered to discuss the strange human who had left the food. Tugger and Misto were asked to describe her. It was Mistoffelees who told them, since he had gotten the best view of the girl.

"Well, she had black hair, that was cut very short, only to her ears. I didn't see her eye color. She was just a bit shorter than Tugger, I think. She was wearing a t-shirt that said "My Goddess gave birth to your God." on the front and the back said "Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup." She had on regular blue jeans. What's the matter, Lonzo? You look as if someone hit you on the head with a two-by-four."

"That girl you just described matched perfectly the one I rescued two days ago. How on Earth did she know where we were and why did she leave food?" No one knew the answer.

Munkustrap frowned. "I think maybe someone should keep watch over this human. Mistoffelees, do you think you could do that? Or can any of you think of someone better?"

"No, I think I can do that easily. I mean, I don't think it would be too hard to find that girl now that I have her scent and know what she looks like. I'll go find her and come back when I know something."

Misto nodded at everyone and disappeared. All of the adults put the matter out of their minds for the moment, since it was being taken care of. Three weeks later, Misto appeared, his face troubled and worried. Munkustrap called every Jellicle to hear what Misto had to say. It took the small tuxedo tom a while to begin.

"It wasn't to hard to find her. I found her scent outside the Yard and followed it to her lair. She...doesn't have a whole lot of stuff, and what she does have I think was pre-owned. She was sitting on what I think was supposed to be a couch. It was just a mattress that was half propped up by the wall. She was watching a movie, I think. I couldn't see for sure. She didn't stay up for long, but went to bed around 12:00. She got up the next morning and went to where I think she works. I'm not sure what she does in there, but I do know that she is only paid about 100 dollars every two weeks. I think that she will be coming here tomorrow because she went to a restaurant and spent about fifty dollars on food...for us. I don't know hwy, but I think it would be a good idea to make her a part of the tribe. I think we can trust her and it would probably be a good idea to have a member who can move around the human world.

I really think we can trust her. I don't know why, but something inside me tells me that she should stay here. I think it would be the best idea to do everything we can to get her to become part of the tribe."

Misto sat down, watching the face of the leader, Old Deuteronomy. He gestured his two grand-sons, Munkustrap and The Rum Tum Tugger over to him to get their opinions. After a few moments of discussion, he turned to Misto and told him to organize the groups of Jellicles to keep an eye out for the human girl and catch her if they saw her. Misto nodded and began to think on who would be the best groups.

*I don't own either of the quotes. I don't know who does. I saw them on the wall in my art teachers room. I they caught my eye and stuck in my head.*


	3. Tanya in the Tribe

Disclaimer: I don't own Monty Python. That belongs to the guys who do Monty Python. I don't own any swallows either.

Misto and Tugger were patrolling in the same general area as they had been when they first saw the human girl. They were acting the same as if they weren't expecting anything unusual, just a normal patrol. Misto saw a flash of light blue out of the corner of his eye and looked in time to see someone in a blue tee-shirt disappear around the corner. He nudged Tugger and they began to follow the girl. They saw her putting the bags carefully in the same place as last time. Misto silently moved so he was right behind her.

She smiled as she set down the food. Yes, it took a big chunk out of her paycheck, but she could still live fine. She had lived worse before finding this job, so she would be fine with fewer luxuries. She gave a little giggle. She didn't know why, but being sneaky and not letting the Jellicles know who she was made her excited. Once she had finished settling the food down in such a way that it would disguise her scent, but not fall down, she turned to go find a Jellicle patrol to lead to the food. She turned and ran smack into a furry white chest. Before she could react, she felt sleep overtake her and her last coherent thought was _ huh?_

Misto caught the young girl before she fell to the ground and hit her head. Now that he got a good look at her, he saw that she could be no more than 18. Her face was soft, but with a few lines that showed that she had suffered some. Misto didn't know why, but the thought of this girl suffering made him upset. Maybe it was just because she was being so kind to them. He lifted her into his arms and carried her over to the car trunk that served Jenny as home and infirmary for the sick and/or injured.

_What the hey happened? Last I remember, I was leaving food for the Jellicles, then I ran into one, then I fell asleep. Fell asleep? Why would I fall asleep after running into a Jellicle? That makes no sense. I think I had better wake up. Either it all was a dream, and I haven't done anything yet, or it really happened and someone will explain it all to me. I hope._

Tanya Mickelvich cracked open one eye. What she saw caused both of her eyes to pop open and widen with shook. About three inches from her nose was a small furry white face covered with multicolored stripes. The moment she opened her eyes, the face moved out of her line of sight and a young sounding voice cried "Jenny! She's awake!"

"Yes, I am awake, but that still doesn't answer the question; where I am, how I got here, who got me here, why I'm here, who you are, and what the air-speed velocity of a swallow is." Tanya sat up, watching the young Jellicle.

"Huh?"

"Never mind that last part. Can you answer the other questions?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Who's in charge here?"

"That would be me. Now, what is your name and why did you leave food for us?"

"My name is Tanya. I left food, partially as a thank you and because I know what it is like to be hungry. And it is no fun at all."

Jennyanydots studied the young human for a moment, then sent Etcetera off to go get the ones who would need to talk to the girl. Then, she settled down to see if she could get any information.

Yay, another chapter! Sorry if it took me awhile to update, but I have been very busy. I am in a play, I have school, and I have other stuff I like to do. I will try to update more often.


	4. Author's Note NOOOOOOO!

Okay, enchiladas, I just wanted to post this so you would know some stuff. I write the chapter and then I post it, so my updating may take awhile, since I am prone to fits of writer's block. I try and update as often as I can, but I am uber-busy. Sorry, enchiladas. I try my best, but don't shout at me for things I can't control. Okay?


	5. Well?

Misto felt a bit of apprehension about actually talking to this girl. He had no idea how she would take having been magicked to sleep. He hoped that he hadn't ruined any chance they had of getting her on their side. He followed Munkustrap, Alonzo and Old Deuteronomy into car trunk. He saw Tanya was sitting on a bed, her head cocked to one side, watching Etcetera who was watching her. Neither of them were blinking. Electra, Jemima and Sillabub were watching the two. Every once in a while, one of the spectators would pretend to jump at the girl, for seemingly no reason at all. She never reacted. Not even Old Deuteronomy's voice made her look away from Cettie.

"What is going on here?"

"Well, Cettie said that there wasn't a human anywhere who could beat her in a staring contest. Tara—the human—didn't believe her. So, now they are having a staring contest." Jemima stated all of this very calmly, as if it happened every day. All of a sudden, the human gave a triumphant laugh. She pointed at Etcetera, who was pouting.

"You blinked! I saw it! I am the winner! Who are you lot?" Misto blinked at this fast transition from Cettie to them. From the way they looked, she had taken the others by surprise as well. Misto started haltingly.

"I'm—Mistoffelees. This is Old Deuteronomy, our leader. Munkustrap, our second-in-command and Alonzo, third in command. We know who you are. Why were you leaving food for us?"

Tanya's mouth twisted in a smirk. "You aren't the first one to ask me that. I did it to say thank you, and because I know what it is like to be hungry. Especially when you are young." Her eyes unfocused for a moment, then she snapped back to reality. She began inspecting the three other toms. She stopped when she saw Alonzo. "I remember you!!! You helped me get away from the kidnappers! Why?"

"Because." Alonzo winced immediately after he spoke. He seemed to be expecting a barrage of questions, but it never came.

"'Because is the ultimate answer.' One of my many random quotes that I can never remember where they came from. Correct me if I am wrong, but I am assuming that you all are the ones who set the trap for me? For some reason that I don't know and will hopefully find out soon." Misto wasn't quite sure, but he thought he detected a bit of a question/order in that last sentence. He looked over at Old Deuteronomy and Munkustrap to see what they were going to do. Both of them seemed a bit taken aback. Misto decided to take over until they recovered.

"Yes, we are. We wanted to talk to you. You see, I was watching you for the past month. My tribe decided to ask and see if you wanted to join our tribe. We thought it might be a good idea to have a member who can move easily around the human world. So, do you accept?"

**Cliffie!!!!! I know that I am being mean, but so many people do things like this, so I can be excused. RR enchiladas! Sorry about the sucky quality of some of my ficcs lately. But, I have been mucho busy and my brain has been on other things. Again, sorry. Enjoy!**


	6. AN Fictionpress

Alright. I am practically begging everyone to go to my Fictionpress account (TaraTatianaEsmereldaCleopatra) and at least read some of my stories. So far, I am getting very few. So, please, please, _please_ read my stories and leave feedback. I have said this on my profile and I would like to publish these, but I want to make sure they are going to be read by people. So, anything you can tell me would be wonderful. Even if you tell me that it stinks and I am a complete failure, it would at least be feedback. So far, I have a grand total of three reviews on that account and all of them are for a poem. So, I would love to know what is thought of my stories. Please. Thank you soooooo much. The first person who reviews one of my stories, not poems, gets a thousand brownies and a thousand cupcakes (all virtual) and I will review some of your stories! So, pretty please! *Gets down on knees and begs*


	7. Answers and Deals

**I apologize for taking so long to update, but other things have been taking up my time, as well as the annoying fact that school is ending and I have to study for my finals. So, here is the next chapter!**

Tanya's POV

I bit my lip, making it look like I wasn't sure as I freaked out inside. To be a member of the Jellicle Tribe! That was just a step down from my biggest wish, which was to actually be a Jellicle. Ever since the first Jellicle had been found, I had been completely in love with them. What wasn't there to love? They had all of the wonderful qualities of a cat, and the form of a human. I couldn't get why so many people hated them. They were so wonderful, and their fur was always so beautiful! I had always loved cats more then any other animal, so when I first saw a Jellicle I had nearly given myself a heart attack with happiness. It was probably very funny. I looked back at the four toms in front of me.

"What would me being a member entail? And do I have to give an answer right now?"

The black and white tuxedo tom, Mistoffelees, looked at the old greyish one, Old Deuteronomy, then back at me.

"To answer your second question, no you don't. You can think about it for as long as you like, and you may stay here till you do if you want. And in answer to your first question-"

"You would have to help us in the human world. Getting food, negotiating with humans, and other such business. Also, if there is a fight going on, you will be expected to help the queens with the kittens, and things like that. And-"

I held up a hand to stop the silver tabby, Munkustrap, from continuing.

"Why would I have to help the queens? I can fight just as well as any tom." He raised an eyebrow and looked me up and down. I scowled, knowing that he wouldn't believe me. I wasn't very muscled, and I didn't look like I could lift very much weight. Everyone always underestimated me because of it and I was really getting tired of it. He didn't say anything, but I knew that he didn't believe me.

"I'll show you. One on one hand to hand, first to be pinned for ten seconds. Your best fighter."

The one who had saved me, Alonzo looked at Munk and Munk seemed about to refuse, but Old Deuteronomy put a hand on his shoulder and raised any eyebrow at me.

"Our fighters are very good, and much stronger then any human. I don't think you know what you are asking-"

"I do and I'm not going to back down. How about this. If you let be fight your best fighter, then I will join, okay?" Munkustrap's eyes narrowed, and he seemed about to keep trying to talk me out of it, but Misto put a hand on his shoulder and nodded his head. Munku frowned, then nodded sharply and turned, obviously expecting me to follow him. I did, with Deuteronomy, Misto and Lonz following me and the kittens following them. We walked until we reached a very large area that had been cleared of all junk piles, and was full of Jellicles. I stared for a moment, surprised that there were so many living here in London. I felt a touch on my back and looked to see Misto was looking at me curiously. I smiled and whispered to him.

"Didn't know there were so many Jellicles. If I had, I would have gotten more food for you all."

He blinked and shook his head.

"You got plenty. It was one of the first times in I'm not sure how many years that no one went to bed hungry, and we still had enough for the next days breakfast. You did a good job, and I want to say thank you, from all of us."

I smiled and nodded, then looked to see Munk was looking back for me. I walked over to stand next to him. As I did, I ignored all of the whispers and such that flew from Jellicle to Jellicle. Let my say that it was NOT easy to stop myself from laughing. WHen I noticed some of the Kittens that I hadn't met creeping closer to me when the adults weren't looking, I grinned at them and winked. One of them, a young brown and white patched tom-kit, grinned back at me and moved closer. Unfortunately, at this time one of the adults I hadn't met yet saw, and pulled him back away from me. I sighed, then looked over at Munkustrap. He nodded gravely, still frowning slightly. Old Deuteronomy made his way to a large monster truck tire and sat down on it. He raised his arms and all of the Jellicles fell silent, looking at him expectantly.

"This is Tanya. She is the human who was leaving food for us. We have extended the offer for her to join our tribe, and she accepted on one condition; that she be allowed to fight, hand to hand with our best fighter. The first one to be pinned to the ground for 10 seconds is the loser. I will let you decide among yourselves who is the best." He lowered his arms and nodded to Munkus. Before he could speak, another Jellicle spoke up.

Munkustrap's POV

I mentally groaned as Plato stood up. His had been the voice that spoke the loudest against letting the human into our tribe. He was frowning right now, and I knew he was going to make trouble.

"I still don't get it." He stalked over to Tanya and sneered in her face. "How could a human, and a puny one at that, be any help to us?" Before he could say anything else, he was flying across the clearing into his brother. "That's how." All of the Jellicles looked at Tanya, who was now standing with her arms crossed, head tilted, one knee slightly belt and hips slanted, smirking at Plato, who was staring at her in shock as Admetus pushed him off. Admetus stood up and bounced over to her, a broad grin on his face. Again, I groaned. Addy was the most likely to make her regret the deal. He held out his hand when he reached Tanya.

"Hi! I'm Admetus, but you can call me Addy, or whatever. Where did you learn to throw someone like that?"

Tanya shook his hand and grinned at Addy. "Nice ta meetcha, Addy." Her smile faded a bit, and became both sad a bitter. "As to where I learned to throw, let's just say that the streets can be a very harsh teacher, especially at the age I landed on them. So, which Jellicle is your best fighter?" She looked at all of the Jellicles assembled, who began to speak among themselves. I was pretty sure that they would put forth Alonzo, so I just let them talk. Eventually, Pouncival ran over to her, before Jelly could stop him. He stopped in front of Tanya and grinned at her. She grinned back and crouched down to his level.

"Munkustrap is our best. And the vote was unanimous, Munkus, so don't even bother trying to say otherwise." He nodded sharply and ran back. I blinked a few times, then mentally sighed ad turned to face Tanya, who was already limbering up a bit. I waited till she was finished, and took a ready position across from me. Her face had become a mask, and I was a bit startled at the transformation. Alonzo stood up next to Old Deuteronomy, and held up his arms. He was refereeing.

"As was stated before, first to be pinned for ten seconds is the looser. You will not cause serious harm, but a bit of blood is allowed. You will begin on my mark. Ready, set. Begin!"

**And yes, I am mean enough to end it there. Hehehehehehehe. ANy review telling me how mean I am will be ignored, so don't even bother. Since summer is starting, I am pretty sure I will be updating more often. Your welcome! Hasta la vista for now, enchiladatacos!**


	8. Welcome to the Tribe

Third Person POV

As soon as Alonzo's arm dropped, Munkustrap lunged for Tanya, only to stumble when he encountered thin air. He looked around in bewilderment for her, only have all of the breath whoosh from his lungs when a foot impacted the middle of his back. He turned, only to see where Tanya...wasn't He ignored all shouts from the watching Jellicles, knowing that they weren't allowed to yell anything useful to him. His ears twitched, trying to hear where Tanya was, but he only heard a rustling of junk from all around him. He couldn't pinpoint it at all. He finally looked up, in time to see Tanya jump off of a rocking chair perched on a pile of junk and de two backflips, stopping just in time for her foot to hit him dead in the center of his chest. As he fell back, she made a shrugging motion with her shoulders and flipped over his head, landing on the ground as he did, then flipping him over and kneeling on his back. Munkustrap snarled and wriggled around, trying to throw her off, but he wasn't succeeding. With only a second or two left, he finally managed to flip around and pin her. She went limp, and he relaxed his hold a bit, watching for any sign that she was going to throw him off. What he wasn't prepared for was for her to push herself out from under him and jump away into shadows. He looked through them for a bit, finally spotting her, just in time to see he leap toward him, shrilly screeching. The high pitched noise made him instinctively start to cover his ears, and start to close his eyes. When he realized what she was doing, she was already sitting on his shoulders, legs hooked under his arms, one arm under his chin and the other gripping his mane. Her sudden weight made him fall backwards, and she quickly used her position to flip him onto his stomach. Just as swiftly, she released her hold and moved until her sharp elbow was digging slightly into the middle of his lower back. He froze, knowing that there was no way he could get out of this position. He snarled in annoyance, and heard her grunt softly in satisfaction. Ten seconds later, Alonzo called out with shock coloring every syllable.

"Tanya wins!" She stood up, and Munku flipped over to she her holding out a hand to help him up, a small smile on her lips. He gave her a small smile back, and grabbed her hand, using her help to pull himself up. She turned and looked at all of the other Jellicles, who were staring at her in shock. She raised an eyebrow, silently asking 'what?' The young adults all swarmed around her, each trying to ask her a question, but their words were indistinguishable, since they all were talking at the same time. She held up her hands and they stopped, looking slightly embarrassed. Tanya blinked and waited a moment to get her thoughts in order. She looked at a young white queen.

"What's your name?"

"I am Victoria. It almost seemed like you were able to anticipate what Munkus would do. How?"

"This wasn't the first time that I fought a Jellicle. Though, this is the first time I walked away from the fight without having half of my skin torn off." She smirked a bit, then looked curiously at two exactly identical cats, who had slightly disturbed expressions.

"I am Coricopat, and this is my daughter Tantomile. What do you mean by that?"

"Well, when I was still living on the streets, I began to hear rumors of a 'monster' who was killing off street rats for no reason. I already had a pretty good reputation, so I went to go check it out. I found that it was really a bunch of Jellicles, all working for another Jellicle. When I started killing off his minions, he began to seek me out. He finally found me, and attacked me. Really, if a friend hadn't found me, I would have died. So, I trained myself up, and then went and found _him_. This time, even though I still ended up passing out from blood-loss, managed to give him worse." Tanya smirked again, eyes half-closing and crossing her arms. Shifting all of her weight onto one foot, a few of the Jellicles thought how much she seemed like a Jellicle. Just a few physical changes, and she could have fit in quite easily. "I left him with the message not to touch any street rat who hadn't done anything to him, or not even death would be able to stop me from getting revenge. And the threat worked, thank whatever powers there be." Her eyes flashed up to the sky, then back to her audience. Tantomile stepped forward, her expression worried.

"What did the tom look like?"

"Ummm... he was tall, kinda thin, with a broad, high forehead and sunken eyes. If he had actually been a cat, I would have named him a feral. His coat was mostly ginger, with a bit of white and black, and it was wild, untamed and unkempt. Why?"

By now, all of the Jellicles were staring at her with awe. Finally, a young black anf gold queen crept over to her.

"That was Macavity. He is the worst Jellicle ever to have been born, and a rouge. Not even Munkustrap was able to defeat him alone. It took the whole tribe to drive him off when he last came here, and even then he was barely hurt. What you did was simply amazing." Most of the others nodded and Tanya blushed. She looked at her feet and mumbled something that no one could understand. All of the kittens scrambled to stand in front of her, with almost exactly identical pleading expressions on their faces.

"Teach us how to fight like that!" Tanya blinked, then looked at Munkustrap and raised an eyebrow. He looked at her for a long moment, then at the kittens. He walked over to Old Deuteronomy and spoke quietly with him, then turned around and nodded at Tanya. She gave him a half-smile and turned back to the kittens. "Okay then. But I want to warn you, I can't go easy on you. I don't know how. I trained some street rats, once, but I had to be extremely hard on them. Otherwise, they wouldn't have survived the streets. Got it? Good. Be here at dawn day after tomorrow, and I'll find somewhere for us to practice." The kittens all nodded and ran off, yelling incomprehensibly at each other. Tanya took a quick look around and, seeing that no one was watching her, made an escape. She found a pile of junk and began to climb, hoping that the pile was stable enough to hold her weight and that she would be able to think in peace. She reached the top and smiled when she saw a small love seat sitting there. She gingerly sat down on it, then curled up and stared at the sky without seeing it. Her thoughts were running every which way and she needed to organize them.

When she first noticed the quiet noises from behind her, she ignored it and didn't give any sign she had noticed. Once the noises stopped, she spoke.

"Ya know, when someone sneaks away from a group of people, it's usually because they want to be alone. Comprende? Good. Now go away, please."

Tanya POV

"Nah, I think I'm fine where I am. Anyways, I wanted to talk to you without the entire tribe breathing down my neck." I sighed and sat up, looking over at the tom who had invaded my solitude. I raised an eyebrow at him. He was tall, with a wild brown mane that looked a bit like a lion's. His wrists and ankles were leopard spotted, as was his chest. He had on a pair of fingerless leather biking gloves and a spotted bandanna thing tied around his thigh. I blinked.

"Who the heck are you?"

"I am THE Rum Tum Tugger. Hottest cat in the Yard." He smirked.

"Okay. Nice to know. Now go away please." I moved so that me feet were hanging over the back of the love seat and my head was pointing to the ground. I sighed and closed my eyes. I opened them again when I felt the cushion next to me sink a bit. I raised my head and looked at the Tugger guy. I raised an eyebrow and he just smiled at me. I rolled my eyes and let my head flop down, sighing again. After a few moments of silence, he spoke.

"You need someone to vent to?"

I raised my head. "Why do you ask that?"

He gave me a wry half-smile. "Your acting a lot like a friend of mine when he needs to vent. namely, going away from everyone else and being rather rude to whoever decides to follow him. Namely, me."

I raised my eyebrow again. "Has anyone ever told you that you are full to bursting of hot air, and then some?"

Tugger blinked. "Not quite in that way. A few of the older Jellicles and the toms have said that I am a bit full of myself, but," He shrugged "Got to keep up appearances. To them, I've always been this way. I don't think they'll let me change now." He looked up at the moon, a wry half-smile on his face. I blinked and moved so I was sitting up straight, with my head flopped on the back of the couch. I sighed.

"It gets so annoying. Being considered a superstar because you are very talented at beating up someone. The people on the streets did it to me too. I hated it. They all looked at me as if I were some sort of goddess, simply because I could easily kill people. If I'm going to be famous, I want it to be for singing, dancing, acting and writing fantasy novels, not killing people, even if they do deserve it."

"Why do you hate it so much? Most people would be glad that they're well know, even if it's for killing. Some people especially if it's for killing, because they like the fear they inspire."

"And that's why I hate it. Because, no matter how they try to hide it, if they even bother to try, they're afraid of me. I don't want to be feared. I want people to like me, to _want_ to...to...I don't know! I don't even care really. I just don't want people to be scared of me." I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, resting my head on my knees and looking sadly up at the moon. He didn't reply for a moment, then tenderly wrapped an arm around my shoulder and puled me against him, his chin resting on top of my head.

"You may not believe me, but I understand how it feels to be put up on a pedestal for reasons that you don't want to be worshiped for. Everyone in the Yard thinks of me as a shameless flirt who doesn't think with his head. If they knew that my favorite pastime was reading, they wouldn't believe it. They don't even really see me, anymore. They just see a flirt and expect me to live up to that. And I can't for the life of me figure out how to change their opinion." I bit my lip.

"Maybe I could help you."

"How?"

"Well...you could leave something of who you really are out, and when someone asks who it belongs to, just act casual and claim it, then go on like it's nothing new. If you do that enough times, eventually they won't think anything of it and you can move on to something bigger." Tugger pulled away a bit, looking at me with wide eyes.

"That is an awesome plan! Thanks Tanya."

"Your welcome. If you don't mind me asking, what kind of books do you read?"

"Well, just about anything fiction, but I prefer sci-fi and fantasy."

"Those are my favorites too! Have you read the Mercedes Lackey Valdemar books?" He snorted.

"I own every single one." My jaw dropped.

"Holy frijoles, you have to let my borrow them. I absolutely love them, but I have only read a few and it's driving me crazy, because they mentioned things that have to have happened in earlier books, but I don't know what their talking about. It's the most frustrating thing on Earth."

"I'll agree with you there. Here, come with me and you can see what I have that you'd be interested in." He stood up and held out a hand to me. I grabbed it, and followed after him, ecstatic to meet someone who shared my love of fantasy and sci-fi.


	9. A Fellow Bookworm

Tugger's POV

I lead Tara through the Yard, making sure that no one saw us and got the wrong ideas. It wasn't too long before we reached my den, which was hidden under a pile of junk. I went to the closet that sat in front of the opening and opened the door, holding aside the cloth and gesturing her through. I followed her and smiled, waiting for her reaction.

"Oh my fajitas...That is amazing!" I smiled at her obvious excitment and watched happily as she eagerly started looking at all of my books.

She was the first person I had brought to my den, and I was glad that I had decided to trust her with my secret. I still wasn't quite sure why I had, but I didn't much care. Her eyes were slightly glazed, probably with shock at the fact that my walls were actually bookselves full of books, and that every available flat surface was also covered with books. It took a little while, but she finally managed to find where I had the Mercedes Lackey books. Her jaw dropped as she looked through them. I smiled broadly. Not my usual smirk, but an actually smile.

"So you like?"

"I love. Almost half of these aren't available anywhere else in town. This is awesome!"

"Feel free to borrow any of them whenever you want. Least I can do to repay you for your help." Tanya squeed, actually said 'squee', and practically tackled me with a hug.

"YOU ARE AWESOME!" I laughed and hugged her back.

"I think I can say the same for you, even though I don't really know you." I pulled away slightly and studied her face for a moment, then hugged her again. "I think I am hugging the person who will be my best friend ever."

"Ditto." Tanya pulled away and started looking over the shelves again, this time occasionally pulling a book off and reading the blurb.

"How many of these have you read?" She asked absently after awhile.

"Almost all. I have about three or four shelves left." Her head flew up so fast I was afraid she would get whiplash.

"Seriously?" I nodded and she looked impressed. She then started asking for recommendations and we started talking. Before I knew it, it was extremely late and Tanya still needed to get back to her house. Munkustrap had offered to let her sleep in the Yard, but she said she needed to work tomorrow, so she would just go back home.

He walked with her to the entrance of the Yard and watched silently as she disappeared into the night. Maybe now that she was here, I'd finally be able to get rid of my mask and get the cat I had loved for so long.


End file.
